David Hill

The Mud Mask You Can Make At Home

Hundreds of years ago, primordial peoples used mud for nearly everything. Mudstones, or blocks made from mud, straw, sand, and water, served as some of the earliest units of shelter. Pottery, the rather poetic process in which raw earth becomes precious cultural commodity, is an ancient and enduring expression of art. Mud was even ingested for its mineral and antimicrobial benefits, which is something Shailene Woodley would love to tell you all about. Mud is literally the mortar of civilization—a crude, everlasting substance upon which rich, dynamic, and extremely filthy lives are built. It also makes for a really nice face mask.

It is unclear to this writer what the skincare routines of ancient peoples looked like—there is a bone-chilling lack of evidence on the subject. Over the last couple decades, however, muds and clays have gone from celebrated material/celebrity snack to flagship skin detoxifier, dotting the ingredient lists of countless expensive purifying masks. Ironic, because mud is free, and bentonite clay is on Amazon Prime for $10. In 2017, it's never been cheaper to be Shailene Woodley.